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Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Hinamatsuri (Doll’s Festival)

Last night, we finished a wonderful chapter book called Ship of Dolls by Shirley Parenteau. My dad gave it to Lily for Christmas and I understand there is a sequel, Ship of Hope, in the works. It is a work of historical fiction based on a true event that we did not know about – the gift of friendship when over 12000 dolls collected from school children all over the United States sailed from San Francisco to Japan in 1927. The exchange was arranged by a teacher missionary, Dr. Sidney Gulick. You can read more about the history and goals of the Friendship Doll Mission here.

The dolls reached Japan by freighter in time for the Japanese Doll Festival, Hinamatsuri which is celebrated in Japan each year on March 3rd. On this day, families (generally those with daughters) set up tiered platforms displaying hina dolls.
For the international component of her Girl Guide fashion badge, Lily chose to learn about kimonos. She had a chance to model a kimono at the Textile Museum as well as learn about the kimono's structure and piecing.
I stitched up a kimono for one of the American Girl dolls. I used this pattern by Pixie-Faire. Technically, married women wear kimonos with short sleeves and unmarrried women wear kimonos with long sleeves. The fabric is from Japan and features miniature kokeshi dolls (I picked it up from Kallisti quilts). The obi belt is a leftover piece of dupioni silk
Time to take a break from the photo shoot and enjoy some sushi (miniature erasures from Daiso).
Happy crafting and thanks for stopping by!